11 Ways to Fight Price Inflation That Will Help With Rising Costs

Price Inflation is something that has been affecting the whole world during 2021 and most likely will continue well into 2022. We thought we would take a look at how we can fight price inflation during these times.

Let’s be honest, these ideas are a great way to save money every day even when price inflation is not rising costs on us.

One of our goals at Wallet Squirrel is to save money every day to help us reach financial independence.

1. Bulk Buy to Fight Price Inflation

If you tend to buy a lot of items that are non-perishable, buying in bulk can help you fight price inflation. For example, my wife and I tend to eat at least one pasta dish each week so we can buy our pasta in bulk to save money. The pasta will stay good for a couple of years which we will go through way before then. We also do this for toilet paper, dog food, and other household items that do not expire quickly.

Bonus: Buying in bulk will not only help you fight inflation but will also help you prepare for any emergency such as if you are trapped in your house for a few days after a major snowstorm.

2. Cut Back on Meat

Meat is expensive! Especially red meat. Cutting back on meat and relying on plant-based protein can help you save money each week. We tend to eat 2-3 meatless meals a week. Outside of this, we tend to do chicken or shrimp because they are much cheaper compared to red meat. I will watch out for deals on red meat before putting it on our menu.

3. Meal Prep

Prepping your meals ahead for the week has several benefits and one of them is to help you fight prince inflation. The theory behind prepping your meals is that you are more likely to stick to your weekly menu. While this might sound silly, it really does work! My wife and I spend a couple of hours each weekend prepping our lunches and breakfasts for the upcoming week. I then cook the dinners for the week on Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Meal prep also helps save time throughout the week. It opens up time for me to get other projects done throughout the week.

4. Embrace the Leftovers

I love leftovers so this is easy for me. Not everyone is a big fan of them and that is perfectly understandable. I ask that you learn to love them though because they can save you a lot of money but can save you a lot of time. What would you do with an extra hour in the day? That is what you could be doing instead of cooking dinner and eating leftovers.

Not only do leftovers save you money to combat price inflation but they also limit food waste which is a good thing for the environment.

5. Store Brands

We have a culture in the United States that you need to buy name brands because they are the best. Those brands’ marketing teams have done a great job. While this is true in some cases, most of the time, it is not. We try buying generic brands such as Kroger, Kirkland, Walgreens, and so on. This helps us save on food, dog food, and medicines.

I won’t buy the Kirkland laundry divergent though, it just isn’t as good as Tide.

6. DIY Things

Doing projects around the house can save you thousands of dollars. With Youtube and a little confidence, you can accomplish almost anything around the house. I have saved over $30,000 by completing projects myself. Some of these include:

General maintenance on our cars
Fixing issues on our cars
Sanding and restaining our deck
Redoing the landscaping of our yard
Small electrical jobs
Blowing out our sprinklers
Painting
And so much more

7. Save on Gas

We tend to only shop at one grocery store, King Soopers. This allows us to accumulate a lot of gas points to purchase gas at their Loaf & Jug locations. We tend to save 10 to 40 cents per gallon each time we fill up. This adds up over the year! If you don’t have any rewards then use apps such as Waze or GasBuddy to help find the cheapest gas in your area.

There are also other rewards programs that help you save on gas such as Pay With GasBuddy.

8. Get to Know Your Neighbors

Knowing your neighbors can be very helpful because you can help each other out. We do this in our neighborhood with items such as trading pet sitting favors. I also helped out our neighbors blow out their sprinklers which saved them $75 each! In return, they help me with other projects or lend me tools they have that I don’t have. It is a win/win situation for everyone!

9. Buy Nothing Group

Buy Nothing Group is such a cool concept! It is working to create a culture of ‘We’ not ‘I’ by developing a community of people who gift, receive, share, lend items with their fellow community members. The idea is to help others with gifts we have knowledge or an abundance of. It’s a very similar concept to getting to know your neighbors that I mentioned above.

10. Buy Second-Hand

Sometimes you can find amazing deals buying second-hand. My wife and I have been buying second-hand clothes for our two kids over the years. This is great because they will grow out of the clothes within six months or the season changes again. There are so many other items you can buy second-hand that will help you save money.

Tools
Bikes
Cars
Clothes

Buying second-hand is nothing new but the way we do has flourished in recent years. Craig’s List is a well-known online option but Facebook Marketplace, Nextdoor, and many other apps have jumped into the game. There are also the box stores such as Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity. There are plenty of options to buy second-hand gear to help fight price inflation.

11. Couponing

Couponing is something you should be doing already but if you are not, it is a great way to combat price inflation. I enjoy using the King Soopers mobile app to clip digital coupons. Ibotta is another great application I use to help save money on groceries. We also keep an eye out for manufacture coupons for items that we often buy such as toothpaste and toilet paper. While shopping online, I make sure that I use the Honey App to help me find discount codes.

Make More Money to Fight Price Inflation

These are just ways to combat price inflation by saving money throughout your monthly expenses. Other people are looking towards side hustles to make extra money each month as well. If this seems like something for you, check out our Ways To Make Extra Money page to get some ideas.

Wallet Squirrel

Wallet Squirrel is a personal finance blog by best friends Andrew & Adam on how money works, building side-hustles, and the benefits of cleverly investing the profits. Featured on MSN Money, AOL Finance, and more!